This invention relates to a medical treatment method and to an associated medical treatment apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and an associated apparatus for the non-invasive destruction of internal tissues.
Cancer continues to be a scourge of mankind. There is a plethora of techniques for treating cancer. Most of these techniques have dire side effects, generally involving substantial amounts of pain to the patient.
Once cancer has reached the tumor stage, where lumps of cancerous tissues are detectable either directly through touch and vision or indirectly with the aid of MRI and CAT scanners, the principal treatment is surgical. The victim is operated on and the tumor cut out of the body. Frequently, the location and size of the tumor are such that surgical removal results in a severe impairment to the patient's body and lifestyle. For example, surgical removal of a large tumor in a femur frequently results in an amputation.
The operations for surgically removing tumors are nearly universally open incision type operations. These operations are naturally debilitating and require extensive post surgical care. For these reasons, the costs of conventional open incision surgery are enormous.
Although minimally invasive procedures such as laparoscopic or thoracoscopic surgery have increased at geometric rates in frequency of performance, minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of cancer has not been employed. Of course, other kinds of minimally invasive techniques such as chemotherapy and radiation treatment are widely practiced. However, these techniques have substantial debilitating side effects. Patients must suffer significantly in virtually every case.
Nevertheless, minimally invasive techniques are the future of medicine. Patient trauma and hospitalization time are reduced. In addition, costs and expenses are decreased.